Will Kim Minju be able to break free from the prejudice against idol actors?
The performance of former singers who turn into actors has already been one of the driving forces leading the entertainment industry for a long time. Regardless of genre or activity type, such as idols or soloists, many stars who took on the new challenge of acting after building up a certain level of careers have stood out in various works, sometimes receiving favorable reviews and sometimes criticism from the public.
Despite this trend, Kim Minju’s move is particularly eye-catching. Originally an aspiring actress, she appeared as the younger version of Moon Gayoung in MBC’s “The Great Seducer” in 2018. However, in the same year, she participated in Mnet’s “Produce 48” and started a career in the music industry. At that time, she was selected to join the final debut girl group IZ*ONE.
As IZ*ONE received a lot of love during their promotions, there was speculation that Kim Minju would continue to be an idol even after the group’s official activities ended. However, Kim Minju pulled another twist. She’s been active as an MC on MBC’s “Show! Music Core” and tvN D studio’s “Get It Beauty”. She had not revealed her next acting project until this June. She recently confirmed her appearance in MBC’s upcoming drama “The Forbidden Marriage”, announcing a new start as an actor.
In the process, it was reported that Kim Minju showed a strong will for developing a career in acting by rejecting even an offer from HYBE to debut in a girl group. Considering that the girl group that debuted after HYBE’s proposal to recruit Kim Minju was LE SSERAFIM, it would have been an attractive offer if Kim Minju wanted to maintain her idol career.
After that, last month, Kim Minju left the agency Urban Works, and moved to Management SOOP, revealing her career path in a clear way. At that time, Management SOOP also formalized Kim Minju’s acting activities, emphasizing that “We will actively support Kim Minju to take a step forward as an actor.” Gong Yoo, Gong Hyo Jin, Kim Jae Wook, Seo Hyun Jin, Jeon Do Yeon, Jung Yumi, Suzy, Choi Woo Sik, etc. are all famous actors currently managed by Management SOOP.
Kim Minju’s move is unlikely to cause her any difficulties for the time being, as she has decided to resume her acting activities immediately. However, there are still problems that she has to solve in the future. In the past, Kim Minju’s acting skills were still in the realm of a ‘question mark’, although she occasionally continued acting by appearing in “The Great Seducer”, the movie “The Fault Is Not Yours”, and the web drama “A-Teen Season 2”.
To erase the question mark attached to her and gaining public sympathy, she will have to show her improvement in acting. It remains to be seen whether Kim Minju will be able to successfully start the second act of her career by changing the question mark into an exclamation point.
Source: daum
